Safety device for footwear



April] an, 1%. F. 1.. SIMONSON 1,999,214

SAFETY DEVICE FOR FOOTWEAR Filed Oct. 31, 1955 Patented Apr. 30, 1935UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to safety devices for footwear and has for theprimary object the provision of flexible elements lying partially withingrooves or channels formed in the tread surfaces of footwear so as toprovide anti-slipping mediums to permit the wearer to obtain firmtraction when walking on any slippery surface or ground and which may beeasily and quickly removed from the footwear when desired.

With these and other objects in view this invention consists in certainnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts tobe hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my inventicn, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 isa fragmentary perspective view illustrating a boot or shoe with myinvention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the grooves or channelsformed in the tread surface of the footwear and receiving therein theanti-skid mediums,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral l indicates a boot orshoe to which my invention is applied and the tread surfaces 2 thereofhave formed therein grooves or channels 3 arranged in spaced relationand transversely of said surfaces. Lying partially within the grooves orchannels are flexible anti-skid elements 4 preferably in the form ofchains carrying at their ends eye bolts 5. The eye bolts extend throughopenings 6 formed in the sole and heel of the shoe and which openoutwardly through the side faces of said sole and heel. Nuts "4 arethreaded to the eye bolts and are countersunk in the openings 5. Byadjusting the nuts I on the eye bolts the anti-skid elements may betensioned as desired and the nuts also permit the anti-skid elements tobe removed from the shoe or boot when desired. The nuts countersunk asshown in the drawing prevent them from catching into obstructions duringthe walking of the wearer. The flexible elements 4 project beyond thetread surface of the sole and heel so as to bite into snow, ice, mud andthe like to prevent slipping. The device also will prevent slipping whenwalking on hard slippery surfaces.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction,combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of my invention, as claimed.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a shoe having a sole and heel provided withrelatively spaced grooves arranged transversely of the sole and heel,chain elements lying partially within said grooves, and means connectedto said chain elements and to the sole and heel.

2. In combination with a shoe having asole and heel provided with spacedtransversely arranged grooves and openings communicative with thegrooves and extending through the side faces of the sole and heel, chainelements lying partially within the grooves, eye bolts connected to theends of the chain elements and extending through the openings, and nutsthreaded to the eye bolts.

3. In a shoe having a sole, a groove arranged a transversely of thesole, a chain element lying partially within said groove, and meansconnected to said chain element and to the sole.

4. In a shoe having a sole, a groove arranged transversely of the sole,openings communicative with the groove and extending through the sidefaces of the sole, chain elements lying partially within the groove,bolts connected to the ends of the chain elements and extending throughsaid openings, and detachable fastening means on the free ends of saidbolts.

FLOYD LEwIs SIMONSON.

